Railway curved track



H. M. LANE.

RAILWAY GURVED TRAGK.

(No Model.)

Patented Jan. 7

. UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICEI.

HENRY M. LANE, OF CINCINNATI, oIIIo.

RAl LWAY CU RVED TRAC K.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 418,798, dated January 7, 1890.

Application filed April 23, 1889. K Serial No. 308.333. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, HENRY M. LANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincintendency and movement of the wheels and car in passing into or out of a curve in such manner as to avoid lurching of the car and undue wear of the rails at any one point.

To this end it consists in the curve track- 1 way, constructed and arranged as hereinafter described and illustrated, embodying as a leading constructive principle the placing of the guard-rails on curve-sections of track in such definite gage relations to the wheel-base and to the adjoining straight track as that, upon entering the guard-rails,.the course and deflection of the car is at once controlled by the impingement of the inner surfaces of the wheel-flanges at both sides of the car against the guards, a

. It also consists in the construction of a guard-rail,adapted to the purposes herein set forth, as a new article of manufacture.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figures 1 and 2 are plan views of a tramway or street-railway curve constructed and arranged according tomy invention; Fig. 3, a diagram or plan showing the common method of laying track-curves for purposes of comparison; Fig. 4, a cross-section of the track, as in the plane x :12 of Fig. 1.

To explain the natureof my invention clearly, it must be premised that thestru ctu re of streetrailway cars, as ordinarily used, involves a rigid wheel-base with wheels rigidly attached to the axles, and that the track-rails on curves are each provided With an inner guard standing slightly higher than the surface of the rail proper. The car-wheel flanges upon the curve impinge against the guard and compel the change of direction bythe pressure of the flanges against the same, the fore-wheel flanges impinging against the guard of the inner rail and the hind-wheel flanges against that of the outer rail. It is obvious, also, that the rigid wheel-base of the car compels a widening of the gage of the track on the curve to accommodate the tangential relations of the wheel-base to the tracks; and this, in ordinary practice, is a slight enlargement'of gage for an easy fit without recognition of the principle of setting the guards apart to a close engagement against the inner sides of the wheel-flanges at both sides of the car.

It is a matter of common experience that the car upon entering the curve of the ordinary construction is subjected to a side lurch moreor less sudden and violent, according to theliberality of the speed, gage, and the condition of the track as to wear. The cause of this may be readily explained by reference to the plan, Fig. 3, showing the tracks laid in the usual manner. The rails T T, of liberal gage, merge at once into the curve C O at the radius-line at, the curve being, as a matter of practice, somewhat wider in gage than the straight track, for the reasons stated, but leaving the guards distinct-lywithin a proper gage or fit against the insides of the wheelflanges. Now, as the rigid wheel-base of the car is norma ly capable of motion only in a straight line, the fore wheels to w traverse the dotted lines Zluntil the flange of wheel to impinges against the guard c of the inner rail of the curve at z, where the angle of deflection, as indicated by the tangential dotted line, is relatively great. Obviously this condition subjects the rails to excessive and destructive wear at the point z, soon wearing the metal and destroying the integrity of the curve, as it wears back the impinging surfaces more and more, as shown by the black line, constantly aggravating the difficulty and causing a more and more violent lurch of the car.

My invention is designed to obviate the difficulty, and does so by a construction and arrangement of the rails upon the curve and in relation to the straight track, wherein the guardrail section which may begin and terminate at the junction of the tangentline and the curve and include only the ICO curve-section, or may extend somewhat beyond and include part of the tangent at either or both ends of the curveis widened in definite relations to the wheel-flanges, so as to take the bearing of the inner sides of the wheel-flanges upon the guards, and thus control the car in close relations to the track at the beginning and throughout the deflection of its course from a straight line. The preferable manner of accomplishing this is to bend the rails C 0 each with a short horizontal inward curve at the junction with the straight tracks T T, as shownenough to bring the impinging inside of the guards c c in line with dotted paths Z Z of the inside of the wheelflanges w w in each case-allowingslightly for proper play and variation in gage of wheels. The bending of the guard-rails thus at the junction also gives aguidingflare p, to insure the proper entrance of the wheel-flanges into the curve and aproper gage for abutting sections of straight and curved tracks. The wheel-base of the car being rigid and always in tangential relations with the curve, the deflection of the car by the curved rails is effected by the impingement of the flange of the fore wheel it against the guard c of the inside curve and the impingement of the flange of the opposite rear wheel against the guard e of the outside curve. Now, in order to insure a perfect action at the entrance of the curve, so as to begin the deflection gradually, I may bring the straight tracks T T to the tangent-points on the radius 00 at proper and close gage, thus perfectly controlling the position of the car and bringing the wheelflanges in proper relations, as already described and as indicated by the dotted pathlines Z Z in Fig. 1 with the guard-rails c c. In practice, however, I find it desirable to extend the guard-rails C C a short distance into the straight track, as indicated in Fig. 2, sufficiently to accommodate, approximately, the wheel-base of the car and bring the wheelflange into proper relations with the guards before beginning the deflection.

At the outgoing terminus of the curve the junction terminals of the straight track rails T T may be bent in the opposite direction, as shown, so as to set these rails inward to the normal gage, or the guard-rails C may be extended into a short section of straight track to carry the car beyond centrifugal influence and leave it under control of its own normal tendency to go forward in the proper straight line of the subsequent track-section. This construction is indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States- 1. The improvement in railway track curves consisting in offsetting the guard-rails outwardly at the junction with the straight track at or before the tangent-point to bring both guard-rails into the impinging path of the inner surfaces of the wheel-flanges and maintaining such track relations throughout the curve to or beyond the leaving tangentpoint, substantially as set forth.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a guardrail for railway-track curves, having its end deflected horizontally inward, so that by its junction with the normal straight track the guard is brought into the impinging path of the inside of the wheel-flanges, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HENRY M. LANE.

\Vitnesses:

HORATIO ROGERS, E. R. BAKER. 

